What does a leader look like at university, in the workplace and in daily life?

That is the question that International Schools Partnership (ISP) students are asked to reflect on during Leadership Education and Academic Preparation workshops delivered by the international programs team at Canada’s top-ranked university, the University of Toronto (UofT).

Students across our global network are taking part in the workshops through our Future Pathways programme, which supports them in developing the skills needed to adapt to an ever-changing world.

The results are demonstrating a positive impact for our students, with 77 per cent of participants reporting a strong increase in confidence to make decisions about their future.

Helping students understand post-school options

The three-hour interactive sessions are designed to help students understand and apply different leadership styles through debating, problem solving and collaborating across cultures.

Nicola Carozza, assistant director of international programs at UofT, guides ISP students aged 15-17 through a series of academic and interpersonal challenges that mirror university life.

For example, students may be asked to pitch a business idea or propose solutions to global challenges that align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Each workshop is unique, depending on the ideas and outputs from the students, aligning with our personalised approach to learning at ISP, where it is a dynamic process led by our students in partnership with teachers, leaders and parents, supported by our Learning.First framework.

Creating confidence in students

So far, Carozza has delivered workshops in 27 ISP schools across 10 countries, and feedback has been exceptionally positive, with 93 per cent of students recommending the workshops.

Our students have also reported a 40 per cent increase in confidence in their leadership skills, commenting that the workshops helped them adapt to different leadership styles and prepare for university.

The workshops also help ISP students to build their understanding of key life skills that will support them in their destination of choice - whether studying at a university, diving straight into a career or nurturing their curiosity through a gap year.

These life skills are highly sought after by employers, meaning that what students learn in the workshops is not only beneficial for their personal growth but also transferable to their future goals.

For example, analytical thinking and creativity - skills that the workshops help develop in students - are among the top core skills identified as desirable in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025.

The sessions are also about empowering students to realise that, through their ISP experience, they already have many of the skills needed to succeed beyond school.

Self-leadership, as the focus of the sessions - and also one of our core ISP Life Competencies, covering skills such as learning to learn, confidence and wellbeing - helps students to transfer skills to different settings, such as higher education.

Next stop, Europe

To date, over 750 ISP students have taken part in the workshops at ISP schools in North, Central and South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Early next year, an additional 175 students across Spain and Portugal will participate in the series, before the sessions head to India later in 2026.

Combined with opportunities like ISP-run university fairs and personalised admissions guidance, the workshops help our students to understand the academic demands of studying at a top-ranked university and develop strategies for success.

Thanks to the workshops and our broader Future Pathways initiatives, our students are one step closer to realising their full potential and making an informed choice about their future.

Camilla Woodhouse is head of life competencies and Jo Fretwell is head of learning partnerships at International Schools Partnership

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